The big series starts tonight. Go Twins!

I was predisposed to dislike the movie Fargo¹, but I was eventually forced to view the film for the sake of convenience. Since moving to Washington D.C., I’ve been asked about Fargo frequently. In fact, when I meet someone new around the District, as soon as they find out I grew up in Fargo, they ask either: “Have you seen the movie?” or: “Did you like the movie?” I of course would answer that I hadn’t seen the movie, but the conversation would continue with the topic being the movie. It was always somewhat awkward when someone asked me if I had seen the movie, because once I had said no, they would give me the “how could you have not seen the movie about your home town”² look. I eventually tired of these awkward situations and finally I Netflixed Fargo.³

I’m glad I took the time and have now seen Fargo. The movie was really well done, and being from the area portrayed, I thought the accents were terrific⁴. What I thought made this movie special, and why I would argue it received as much attention as it did, was the way people felt about the movie. I guess that sounds vague, but consider that all of the main characters are cheats, murderers, and otherwise unwholesome characters⁵. But there is an eerie humor to the entire movie. I’ve never felt so uncomfortable when I wanted to laugh. For all of the horrific and sometimes graphic violence in the movie, at times I wanted to laugh (or at least I found parts funny).

Consequently, that dark, brooding, and uncomfortable humor is what I find refreshing. I think the movie’s portrayal of human nature, when faced with the unconscionable acts of others, holds true. No matter what terrible things may happen, there is nothing an individual can do to avoid those events. While the degree of anguish might vary, and indeed it does to a great degree, there are times when a person is going to face the worst. And in the face of the worst, sometimes the best a person can do is look for the humor in life. Fargo was both violent and humorous at the same time; you couldn’t have either without experiencing it all. In this case, art certainly imitated life.

Carrey plays a man, who is generally down on his luck. He is socially awkward, and has great difficulty saying the “right things” to the people he knows. He is an animal control officer, who spends his days bored wondering what happened to his life. The first day in the movie, his birthday February 3rd, he is bitten by a dog that he is trying to capture. This bite is a wake up call, and leads Carrey down a very dangerous and intriguing path including a strange book and a couple of murders.

I thought this film was worth seeing. The suspense builds up quickly from the relatively innocent beginning and bursts over about half way through the movie. I think Carrey does a great job acting and his supporting cast is also believable. The action consistently builds, and every time you think you’ve got the plot pinned down, the storyline shifts. I was really pleased with the ending of the movie, which of course I won’t spoil, but suffice it to say that it was unexpected. The movie questions what people are capable of, and asks you to ask yourself what you might do in various situations. As suspense thrillers go, this one is better than most, and I would definitely encourage people to rent it. Everything is a choice, it is up to you to make the correct decision (as Carrey learns during the film).

Now For something that isn’t an excuse:

Living in the Washington D.C. is a very unique experience (at least in my opinion). I’ve been here for almost a month now, and I’ve noticed a few things.

There are a lot of Mr. Smith’s here. If you’ve seen the classic movie, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, you’ll know what I mean (if you haven’t seen it rent it: its a classic). Basically James Stewart plays Jefferson Smith a great person from a small town, is picked by the Governor to fill a vacancy in the US Senate. The naive Mr. Smith tries to do good from his position, but is met with the harsh reality of how the political system in America actually works. In the end Mr. Smith, rises above the fray to get his goals in the Senate done, and he does it without compromising his morals. Now when I say that there are a lot of Mr. Smith’s here, I mean there are many people here who are new to the area, and that they tend to be motivated and idealistic. Which in my opinion is great; it’s always nice to have optimists around. Idealism is what drives society’s advancement (or is that money…) People like this are crawling up and down the streets of DC.

But there is a stark difference between people who have been here a while and those Mr. Smith’s out there. They are realists, who work hard in the metro, where it is impossible to escape the realities of how our government works. Pork Barreling, Corrupt Politicians, and Scandals are not just something on the news here; they happen here. They also have seen the state that our Nation’s capital is in: shambles. Not to say that the local government isn’t working hard to fix these problems, but every night on the news there are stories that are very troubling. For example, in a period of around 24 hours there were at least three murders; three bystanders in an unrelated event (including one girl toddler) were shot in their car when they got between two cars shooting at one another. Add to the deaths the state of the schools systems in the area. School started this week in most of the area and the news was full of stories about schools with no teachers, schools with no air conditioning, and even more astonishing: Last year some of the DC Public Schools were shut down for days at a time last year because they didn’t have heat in the winter. Some of these schools still don’t have heat, unbelievable. After a while, the glossy exterior of DC tends to wear down, which people who have been here for a while tend to reflect. (And I don’t even want to get into that particular Senator from Idaho…)

Anyway there definitely seem to be two different groups here, and it’ll be interesting to see how their alternate points of view intermingle. How that intermingling effects my perception of DC and our system of government is also something about which I am very curious. From this point on I’ll try to post at least once a week. Look for posts on Anderson Cooper’s Last book, coming up soon.

His name was Jeremiah Johnson, and they say he wanted to be a mountain man. The story goes that he was a man of proper wit and adventurous spirit, suited to the mountains. Nobody knows whereabouts he come from and don’t seem to matter much. He was a young man and ghostly stories about the tall hills didn’t scare him none. He was looking for a Hawken gun, .50 caliber or better. He settled for a .30, but damn, it was a genuine Hawken, and you couldn’t go no better. Bought him a good horse, and traps, and other truck that went with being a mountain man, and said good-bye to whatever life was down there below.

Basically, Jeremiah escapes the tragedies of war and his life by moving into the mountains to become a fur trapper.

His first winter nearly kills him, but with a little help, Jeremiah becomes one of the best trappers. The story is very complex, there is humor, action and despair throughout the film and Robert Redford does a very good job of acting. Jeremiah does get into many fights with local Indians (Flatheads and Crows I believe) and while some the fighting scenes could have been done better, the are sufficient. Really the story and cinematics (unbelievable mountain views) make up for any of Jeremiah Johnson’s Shortcomings.

If you are at all interested in the outdoors, camping, backpacking, or even just the 1800′s I definitely recommend watching this film, especially if you thought Cast Away need a little more action. Even better, use the film as a launching point of whatever adventure of your own you can create. It doesn’t have to be as drastic as moving into the solitude of the mountains, a weekend camping trip, a road trip with some friends, or even a day bicycling can create memories that you’ll cherish forever.

How about it? Are there any other movies out there that have inspired you to act? Or are there other great movies about the outdoors?

• The humor is very dry
• The is a lot of nudity in the film and therefore the audience for the film should be adult, and not the same audience that scrubs demands
• There is only one Braff monologue at the beginning of the film

To summerize quickly, I liked this film. It was a very mature piece, which dealt with infidelity and last chances. If you are looking for a movie length episode of scrubs, buy the season dvds, because this is not the film for you. Finally, Kudos to Braff for breaking with his scrubs character, and playing a more human role.

Here are a few things that I noticed about this movie in contrast with Spiderman 1 & 2:

1. It is a much darker movie, both in theme and imagery. Peter Parker takes on “emo” persona when under the influence of the alien symbiote to signify its effect on his persona and emotions. Peter Parker’s outward appearance changes to signify the internal battle his soul is having.
2. This movie is much more violent than the first two films. Or at least the violence is much more visible in this film. There are more battles between Spiderman and the Super villains. Plus the black suited Spiderman and his Peter Parker counterpart are violent and aggressive. At one point Peter even strikes Mary Jane.
3. For the first time in the movie, the realization that Spiderman can be defeated by super villains is shown. Venom and the Sandman are obviously too much for Spiderman to handle. Without some help Spiderman can fail.
4. Teamwork. Spiderman reaches out for help, both in his Peter Parker life and in his masked escapades.

Finally if you are really interested in Spiderman, check out my post on Webslinger, a book of essays on Spiderman.

This book is a series of essays on topics that involve or center around the Spiderman franchise. The topics range from assertion that Spiderman was a horror comic, to who would win a fight between Superman and Spiderman. The topics vary to a great degree, mostly due to the different authors who wrote each individual article. Because of the different authors, don’t expect an overall thesis or theme; in fact, many of the articles contradict each other. But this is what makes it worth reading: that you get to think on the subjects contained within Spiderman on a different level than you might normally.

My personal favorite essay is a philosophical piece. This essays discusses the obligations of humans, humanity, and Spiderman in different situations. This is the most “serious” essay in the book; the author uses Spiderman as an example to explain different philosophical priniciples with skilled language and visuals.

This book, an anthology of essays on Spiderman, is a definite must read for those who are looking for some deeper insight into the world of your friendly neighborhood Spiderman. It is both accessible and interesting in that it is an easy read for younger (mid to late teens) and has enough new ideas (both contemporary and from the time of the first Spiderman comics) to keep older readers flipping through the pages. It was so interesting that I read the 240 page book in two sittings (a night in a hotel and a 3 hr car ride).

This was a great movie: it was funny, and action packed. If you are looking for running jokes from Shaun of the Dead, you won’t be disappointed. Be warned, this movie is rated “R” for a reason, there is intense violence and quite a bit of blood and gore, but if that doesn’t bother you then I highly recommend this movie. This genre of British styled spoof is becoming quite popular, and expect Pegg and Frost to be on the big screen again soon.

It is way too late for this much information.

Oh, one last thing, according to Sci Fi Channel’s The Sci Fi Weekly Newsletter, Movie Studios are already scrambling to acquire the rights to the story. Is everything always about money?:

clipped from www.scifi.com

Studios Stalk Tolkien’s Hurin

David Brawn, director at Tolkien publisher HarperCollins, told Reuters that the initial worldwide print run for the new book, featuring illustrations by Oscar winner Alan Lee, was 500,000 and added that Hollywood studios are eager to buy the film rights of the new book.
“We all want this first and foremost to enjoy life as a book,” Brawn told Reuters. “No one’s saying never to a film, [but] the film rights are reserved by the estate. We want to see what reaction it gets and then let it run its course.”